Man Sentenced To Death For 2013 Murder Resentenced To Death

Daytona Beach, FL – He was sentenced to death for murdering a 25-year-old man, then the Florida Supreme Court ordered a judge to resentence him. Now, he’s been resentenced to death. 28-year-old Christian Cruz was convicted in the 2013 murder of 25-year-old Christopher Jemery, which authorities believe was a case of mistaken identity, back in February 2019. It wasn’t until December 2019 that he was sentenced to death by Judge Raul Zambrano. A co-defendant in the case, 30-year-old Justen Charles, was also convicted, but was instead sentenced to life in prison. Months after Cruz’s death sentence was handed down, the Florida Supreme Court struck down Zambrano’s original ruling and ordered the court to resentence Cruz. The ruling from the Supreme Court said Judge Zambrano made an error in using evidence provided in Charles’ case. It required Zambrano to reevaluate evidence, solely using the evidence from Cruz’s trial and then issue a new sentence. While investigators believed that Cruz was the triggerman in the shooting of Jemery, the Supreme Court said there was “no competent, substantial” evidence presented in Cruz’s trial that he was the triggerman. After review of the case, Judge Zambrano resentenced Cruz to death.